Tom Moulton, Greg Wilson, Prince Language and more make appearances in The Essential Gino Soccio Playlist, compiled by DEL for Foundations.

Dancer

(’79; #1 Dance-Disco / #60 R&B / #48 Pop charts) – An all-timer for me! No typical disco violins or other niceties here, just pure deep, dark, nasty funkiness with a hypnotic repetitive baseline and a musicality that builds for days. Only the sparse vocals of the bridge provide you a respite but then, you must “try to take it higher”, you DANCER! Robert Hood’s edit is hot and Escort has pulled off some great live versions.

Try It Out

It’s Alright

(’82; #2 Dance-Disco / #60 R&B charts) – Another killer song with a simple sing-a-long quality that matches the successful, but in no way formulaic, Soccio brilliance.

I Wanna Take You There (Now)

(’80; #4 Dance-Disco chart) – This was just so unique when I first heard it in club! Can’t say it always got the response I wanted on the floor when I played it but, I loved the orchestration, bridge, and break.

Dance To Dance

(’79; #1 Dance-Disco chart) – A great example of how Soccio really developed continuity within his albums. Definitely with less bottom weight than “Dancer”, yet percussive with that hook, “music takes me high”! Future Funk sampled it with “Music Takes U High” in ’97.

Hold Tight

(’81; #1 Dance-Disco chart) – Just a really well done, mid-tempo, R&B-like departure for Gino as tastes began to morph.

Magic Fly

(’77; #9 Dance-Disco chart) – Kebekelektrik – This soaring euro-disco instrumental smash predated the hit by the French band Space the same year. Find the Tom Moulton Mix… a must.

Sweet Blindness

(’79; #39 Dance-Disco chart) – Mighty Pope – This rare cut by Jamaica-bred and Canadian-raised Earl Heedram was arranged by Soccio and got a great treatment on the 12″ courtesy of Richie Rivera’s Midnight Mix.

DEL lives in the city of brotherly love & SOUL, philaDELphia, where he listens to, dances to, makes & spins music! With a vast library of classic vinyl, he has created edits, remixes, original productions and the "A DEL Mix" series.

5 Magazine is a House Music magazine based in Chicago and publishing since 2005. We write about Deep House, Soulful House, Techno, Disco, Funk and all flavors of underground dance music. This sh*t saved our lives.